Finalist: After the flood
On October 29, 2024, an unusual amount of rain led to catastrophic conditions in towns close to the mountains west of Valencia, including the towns of Paiporta and Massanassa. 222 people lost their lives, and the destruction in the affected towns was enormous. A month later, the consequences of the flooding were still very visible – especially among the locals who had lost their belongings, childhood homes or, in some cases, their lives.
Rosa Chirivella Soriano
64-year-old Rosa Chirivella Soriano lives in a ground floor apartment on a street in Paiporta, where the brown stream flowed two to three meters high. She had to swim out of her apartment through the back door. When the water rose one floor, she grabbed hold of a grate on the building. The stream roared around her, it was dark, and she hung in the cold water for three hours. “I want to live”, she kept repeating to herself.
